Omnidirectional Camera for Use in Police Car Event Recording

1. A system for capturing and storing images, the system comprising: a camera mounted to a vehicle and configured to capture a wide-angle image of a scene in a field of view of the camera; a digital processor coupled to the camera and configured to receive the captured image, locate an area of interest from the scene and define a first subset of the image corresponding to the area of interest as a region of interest; a data-storage device coupled to the digital processor and configured to receive and store the first subset of the image at a first resolution; an antenna coupled to the digital processor, wherein the antenna and the digital processor detect a signal from a wireless device; and wherein the digital processor defines the at least one region of interest from a direction of the detected signal from the wireless device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the camera is an omnidirectional camera.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wide-angle image comprises a 360 degree image.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the field of view of the camera is a 360-degree field of view.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the field of view of the camera is less than 360 degrees.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the camera is configured to take high-definition images.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless device comprises a wireless microphone.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the digital processor defines the region of interest based in at least partial dependence on a user input.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the digital processor is configured to: define a second subset of the image; and perform at least one of the following: discard the second subset; and save the second subset at a second resolution lower than the first resolution.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the second subset of the image is mutually exclusive of the first subset of the image.

11. A method of capturing and storing images, the method comprising: providing a camera mounted to a vehicle and configured to capture a wide-angle image of a scene in a field of view of the camera; transmitting the wide-angle image to a digital processor coupled to the camera; locating, via the digital processor, an area of interest from the scene and defining at least one region of interest within the wide-angle image corresponding to the area of interest, the at least one region of interest corresponding to a first subset of the wide-angle image; storing the first subset at a first resolution in a data-storage device coupled to the digital processor; coupling an antenna to the digital processor; detecting, via the antenna and the digital processor, a signal from a wireless device; determining, by the digital processor, a direction of the detected signal; and defining the at least one region of interest using the determined direction.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the camera is an omnidirectional camera.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the wide-angle image comprises a 360 degree image.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the field of view of the camera is a 360-degree field of view.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the field of view of the camera is less than 360 degrees.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: storing a second subset of the image at a second resolution in the data-storage device, the first resolution being greater than the second resolution; and discarding the second subset of the image.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the second subset is mutually exclusive of the first subset.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one region of interest corresponds to an area of the scene immediately surrounding a law enforcement officer.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one region of interest is defined based in at least partial dependence on user input.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the wireless device comprises a wireless microphone.